Per capita alcohol consumption by Irish teenagers has doubled over the past three decades.
There has also been a doubling of the suicide rate among young men. The aim of this study
was to measure the correlation between alcohol consumption and negative mood (as
measured by elements of the Beck Depression Inventory) in a sample (n = 169) of final-year
secondary school male students. A questionnaire was devised to ascertain frequency, type and
quantity of alcohol consumed, as well as attitudes towards drinking in general. The
questionnaire also assessed overall mood disturbance, and these two sets of results were
analysed and correlation coefficients calculated. It was found that both alcohol consumption
and mood disturbance varied widely throughout the sample and that total alcohol
consumption correlated weakly but significantly with overall mood disturbance. However,
there was a stronger, more significant correlation between frequency of feeling drunk and
mood disturbance, indicating a much greater effect on the teenagers’ mood from binge
drinking than from consistently drinking the same quantity of alcohol.

Per capita alcohol consumption by Irish teenagers has doubled over the past three decades.
There has also been a doubling of the suicide rate among young men. The aim of this study
was to measure the correlation between alcohol consumption and negative mood (as
measured by elements of the Beck Depression Inventory) in a sample (n = 169) of final-year
secondary school male students. A questionnaire was devised to ascertain frequency, type and
quantity of alcohol consumed, as well as attitudes towards drinking in general. The
questionnaire also assessed overall mood disturbance, and these two sets of results were
analysed and correlation coefficients calculated. It was found that both alcohol consumption
and mood disturbance varied widely throughout the sample and that total alcohol
consumption correlated weakly but significantly with overall mood disturbance. However,
there was a stronger, more significant correlation between frequency of feeling drunk and
mood disturbance, indicating a much greater effect on the teenagers’ mood from binge
drinking than from consistently drinking the same quantity of alcohol.

en_GB

dc.language.iso

en

en

dc.publisher

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

en_GB

dc.relation.url

http://arrow.dit.ie/ijass/vol13/iss1/3

en_GB

dc.subject

ALCOHOL MISUSE

en_GB

dc.subject

YOUNG PEOPLE

en_GB

dc.subject

SCHOOL

en_GB

dc.title

Adolescent males in secondary school in Ireland: alcohol use and depressed mood

en_GB

dc.type

Article

en

dc.identifier.journal

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

en_GB

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